Paekakariki Press

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Paekakariki Press is an independent publishing house and letterpress workshop, founded in 2010 and based in Walthamstow, London.^[1]

The proprietor of Paekakariki Press is Matthew Arthur Mckenzie, a native of New Zealand.^[2] The company makes use of a variety of different printing tools that date from between the nineteenth and early-twentieth century. The books are typeset using the Press's own Monotype Composition Caster, printed on a Heidelberg KS Cylinder and bound by hand. So far, all their publications have been of poetry.^[3][4]

They have published over 40 titles including works by several internationally prominent poets, including Ivy Alvarez, Alan Loney and George Szirtes.^[5] In at least one instance, the company has raised funds for the publication of a book using the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter.^[6]

In addition to publishing handmade books, the company also offers letterpress workshops and other similar activities to the public.^[7]

Being committed to traditional methods of production, the Press has also become a repository of old printing equipment. The major items are listed here:

• Type and casting equipment
  • Over 300 cases of metal type
  • Monotype Composition Caster
  • Monotype Super Caster
  • Ludlow type L Linecaster
• Presses
  • Heidelberg KS Cylinder
  • AutoVic parallel approach platen
  • Thompson Automatic platen
  • Model 3 treadle platen
  • Hopkinson & Cope Albion

As well as printing and publishing books, Paekakariki Press uses its large collection of Monotype Composition matrices to cast type commercially, being one of the handful of companies remaining in the UK to offer such a service.